NASA’s DART probe has successfully impacted its asteroid target, demonstrating the the world’s first planetary defense technology
The collision was designed to change the orbit of the space rock called Dimorphos around its parent asteroid parent Didymos to to confirm that NASA can successfully deflect a dangerous asteroid if one was headed for Earth.
“We’re embarking on a new era of humankind, an era in which we potentially have the capability to protect ourselves from something like a dangerous, hazardous asteroid impact,” Lori Glaze, director of NASA’s planetary science division, said on a livestream shortly after the DART impact.
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) impactor hit its target, the space rock Dimorphos, at 7:14 pm Eastern Time (2314 GMT). The spacecraft hit its target 10 months after blasting off from California on its pioneering mission. The cost of the project is estimated to be about $330 million.
“As far as we can tell, our first planetary defense test was a success,” said Elena Adams, DART’s mission systems engineer here at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHUAPL), after the successful crash. “I think Earthlings should sleep better. Definitely, I will.”
DART represents significant progress in understanding potential hazards and protecting our planet from potential impacts.
“Planetary Defense is a globally unifying effort that affects everyone living on Earth,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “Now we know we can aim a spacecraft with the precision needed to impact even a small body in space. Just a small change in its speed is all we need to make a significant difference in the path an asteroid travels.”
